oak leaves, with a written inscription,
'* Offering of Massachusetts volunteers to
the memory of Washington Irving," signed
by them all, and bearing the date, wa3
placed upon the headstone. One boy re-
peated the " Memory of the Dead," and
j all plucked a spray of clover fix)m the
grave. The graceful pen of John S. C.
Abbott, the justly eminent writer, ā ^to
which we find this touching anecdote at-
tributed, ā might well weave into extend-
ed detail of fietscinating narration, a war
incident at once so tender, exquisite, and
peculiarly American, in its characteristics.
Pausing in the preparations for confiict
and blood, to lay upon the tomb of the
best beloved of American thinkers and
writers, the sweet, womanly tribute oi a
leaf-bound wreath, and then, shouldering
again the weapons of loyalty to the Union
which Irving so much loved, returning to
the camp!
Oenaral Tnghman and his Losral MotlMr.
While General Tilghman was confined
a prisoner of war at FoH Wanrei^
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Boston, in the spring of 1862, Mrs.
Tilghraan, accompanied by her daughter,
Mr8. Lowry, visited Boston and put up
at the Revere House, for the purpose of
obtaining an interview with the General,
at the Fort. There was some difficulty
in obtaining the required permission, but
on Saturday the mother and sister were
allowed to visit his quarters and enjoy the
interview which they desired. The first
Oen. TUgbman.
exclamation on meeting him was, ^ O, my
rebel son ! '' and during their conversation
the grieved and suffering woman said
^ When I heard you were taken, I thanked
God that you were rescued from secession
iniiuences; and were I to hear there was
any chance of your being exchanged, I
would go on my knees to the President to
prevent you from again joining the rebels
for I would rather have you reninin here
during your life than to know you were
among the traitors of the country." Truly,
^a foolish son is the heaviness of his
mother.**
blue-coats.** Thus, when General Mc-
Cook, of the Federal army, arrived in the
city, he sent up his card, witli the request
that he might renew his former acquaint-
ance with Miss McNairy. The follow-
ing is the pert rebuff, written on the back
of the card, which the lady sent the gal-
lant soldier:
" Sir, I do not desire to renew my ac-
quaintance with the invaders of my State."
Two other officers whose hearts were
untainted with treason to their country,
visited the house of Dr. Martin, and sent
up their cards to his daughter. Miss Bettie
Martin, requesting the renewal of an old
acquaintanceship with one whom they
recalled as an elegant and accomplished
lady. Repairing to the parlor, with a look
of ineffable scorn and contempt, she dashed
the card into their faces, and said ā
" Your absence, sirs, will be much bet-
ter company to me than your presence."
NaahviUe LsdlM WoMbb the Oard.
The despair which must have overtaken
tlie hearts of the secession ladies of Nash-
ville, when that city was redeemed by
Federal arma, and the " flag of glory ** un-
furled once more in its streets, may be
judged by the pertness and contempt with
which they treated the ^ political guild of
General Laxider and the Bible.
The beautiful illustrations presented
with such painstaking labor and admirable
taste by Prof. H. B. Hackett, of the value
of religion to the soldier, are in keeping
with his own high character as a Christian
philanthropist Everybody will read, with
pleasure, the incident here narrated by the
excellent author named :
One day a staff officer caught General
Lander with a Bible in his hand, and had
the curiosity to inquire of him ā
** Grcneral, do you ever search the
Scriptures?" To this plain interroga-
tory, Greneral Lander promptly replied:
My mother gave me a Bible, which I
have always carried with me. Once in
the Rocky Mountains I had only fifteen
pounds of flour. We used to collect
grasshoppers at four o'clock in the day,
to catch some fish for our supper at night.
It was during the Mormon war, and my
men desired to turn back. I was then
searching for a route for the wagon road.
** I wm turn back if the Bible says so,*'
said I, *'and we will take it for an inspira-
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tion." I opened the book at the following
passage :
'^ Go on, and search the mountain, and
the gates of the city shall not be shut
against you."
All concurred in the definite statement
of the passage, and the heroic explorer
once more led his men into the wild coun-
try of the Indians.
Gen. Lander and his Bible
And yet Lander was not one to boast
of his devotional practices. That he was
" caught " by the staff-officer was doubtless
literally true, ā '^ with a Bible in his hand,"
for he was not one that read his Bible "to
be seen of men."
Such < Memorials of the War' as the
above, constitute, at thisuera, the most in-
teresting and profitable reading for the
youth of our families and Sabbath schools.
Ckmimiflsion of "Major" oonfianBd on a Zjady.
Mrs. Major Belle Reynolds, the wife
of Lieutenant Reynolds, of Company A,
Seventeenth Illinois i*egiment, distinguish-
ed herself as a brave soldier, in the war
against the great rebellion. Her native
place was Shelbume Falls, Massachusetts.
The Seventeenth Illinois, to which her
husband belonged, was one of the most
iwpular regiments in the Western army.
being one of the earliest in the field, and
continuing almost uninterruptedly in active
service. They met the enemy in a terri-
ble encounter, and vanquished him, at
Fredericktown, Missouri. They eariy
took possession of Cape Girardeau ; thej
also bore a prominent part, and were ter-
ribly cut up, at the battle of Fort Donel-
son, and were in the thickest of the fight
at the battle of Shiloh or Pittsburg Land-
ing. In these last two battles Lieutenant
Reynolds was Acting Adjutant
During the greater part of the cam-
paign Mrs. Reynolds shared with her hus-
band a soldier's fare in camp; many a
night, while on long marches, sleeping
upon the ground in the open air, with no
covering other than her blanket, and fre-
quently drenched with rain ā ^and ofltimes
to the order " Fall in," she would hurriedly
mount her horse in the darkness of the
night, and make long marches without rest
or food, except what she happened to have
with her. She at all times exhibited, a
degree of heroism that endeared her
greatly to the brave soldiers of the Sev-
enteenth and other regiments that were
associated with them, and to the officers
of the army whose acquaintance she
formed.
Grovemor Yates, of Illinois, and his staff,
were at Pittsburg Landing to look after
the Illinois troops, who sufiered so severely
in that fearful struggle, and learning of
Mrs. Reynolds's heroic conduct on the
field, and untiring efibrts in behalf of the
wounded soldiers, by and with the advice
of his staff, commissioned her Daughter
of the Regiment, to take rank as a
Major, "for meritorious conduct on the
bloody battle-field of Pittsburg Landing."
Mrs. R. left Pittsburg Landing a few days
after the battle to attend some wounded
soldiers on their way to their homes by
the river, leaving the last one at Peoria ā
Captain Swain, of Illinois, who died as
the boat touched the wharf at Peoria. On
hearing of her having been commissioned
by the Gk)vemor, the citizens of Peoria
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a l(lres?ed a letter to the latter, thanking
him ** for the honor conferred upon Peoria
by your voluntary act in commi^^sioning
Mrs. Belle Reynold^, of this city, to take |
rank of Major of Illinois State Militia, j
showing your appreciation of valuable
services s^^o nobly rendered by a lady on
the bloody batile-field of Pittsburg Land-
ing. And we take pleasure in bearing
testimony to the high moral and Christian
character of the ' Major,' believing that in
whatever circumstances she may be placed
she will ever honor her commission and
the worthy Executive who gave it."
** Whisper Gkxxi-Niflrht, Love."
The heart of many a loyal wife and
mother has been touched by the strains
of that exquisite little song ā " Whisper
Good-Night, Love " ā which was composed
by a soldier the night before the battle of
Stone River. Lieutenant H. Millard, of
the Nineteenth United States Army, and
aid-de-camp to Major-General Rousseau,
was the author. On the n 'ght of the 29th
December, when the division bivouacked
on Stewart's Creek, Lieutenant Millard's
wife bade him good-bye. They expected
to go into battle next morning. Lieuten-
ant Millard reclined on a shock of com,
looking into the blue skies, thinking of his
wife, ā for soldiers think of wives and
little ones at such periods. His comrades
were speculating on the chances of battle,
now and then expressing amiable envy
that Millard could sleep so soundly. Sud-
denly he sprang from his couch, and, call-
ing Lieutenant Pirtle, he repeated the
result of his fancies to him, in verse, which
he entitled, ** Whisper Good-Night, Love. '
Tuesday night, 30th of December, while
the division was bivouacked in front of
Murfreesborough, he composed and ar-
ranged the music for the piano. The
next day five hundred and eight of Mil-
lard's comrades were bleeding on the field
of battle. Such was the origin of a song
which touched many a soldier^s heart, as
it also did the heart of many a loved one
at home.
Yankee Cavalry agraizuit Virflrinla Chivalry.
The coolness and courage with which
some of the Virginia women are endowed
is a fact which has been too often and too
brilliantly illustrated to admit of any doubt
During the rebellion, a Union cavalry
straggler, after vainly ransacking the out-
buildings of a plantation in search of com,
approached the door in which a young
lady was standing, and demanded that
" some of the grain, which he knew was
concealed in the house, should be given
him." " We have none,** was the reply.
'^ Stand aside until I go in and see for my-
self,*' he rudely retorted, at the same time
whipping out of its sheath a heavy Colt's
revolver. No sooner done than the fair
Virginian planted herself firmly in the
doorway, drew a small repeater from her
full and throbbing bosom, and deliber-
ately mming it at the intruder's head, ex-
claimed,
"Approach one step further towards
this house and you are a dead man ! **
Baffied in his endeavors by such an ex-
hibition of bravery, the trooper turned
on his heel and lefl, without taking that
^ one step further.' He was not aware, at
the time, that the maiden who thus placed
such a check upon his movements was
the betrothed of George B. Davis, a
nephew of Jeff.'s, who discharged her
pocket pistol with an accuracy which had
made her &mous in that locality.
*' Dick,'' the Fonr-Footed Orderly.
As we were flying about in every direc-
tion, now here, now there, (says a pleasing
wnter and eye-witness of what is here
narrated,) with a pad for one, a basin and
sponge to wet the wounds of another,
cologne for a third, and milk punch for
a fourth, I felt Dick (our hospital dog,
my fiBkithfnl friend and ally, a four-footed
Vidocq, in his mode of scenting out griev-
ances,) seize my dress in his teeth, pull it
hard, and look eagerly up in my face.
" What is it, Dick ? I am too busy to
attend to you just now." Another hard
pull and a beseechincr look in his eves.
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** Presently, my fine fellow! presently.
Gettysburg men must oome first**
He wags his tail ftuiously, and still
pulls my dress. Does he mean that he
wants me for one of them ? Perhaps so.
Ā« Come,'Dick, Til go with you." He starts
off delighted, leads me to the ward where
those worst wounded have been placed,
travels the whole length of it to the upper
comer, where lies a man apparently badly
wounded, and crying like a child. I had
seen him brought in on a stretcher, but in
the confusion had not noticed where he
had been taken. Dick halted as we ar-
rived at the bed, looked at me, as much as
to say, " There I isn t that a case requir-
ing attention ?" and then, as though quite
satisfied to resign him into my hands,
trotted quietly off.
He did not notice my approach ; I there-
fore stood watching him a little while.
His arm and hand, from which the band-
age had partially slipped, were terri-
bly swollen; the wound was in the
wrist, (or rather, as I afterwards found,
the ball had entered the palm of his hand
and had come out at his wrist,) and ap-
peared to be, as it subsequently proved, a
very severe one.
My boast that I could make a pretty
good conjecture what State a man came
from by looking at hun, did not avail me
here. I was utterly at fiiult His fair
hair, Saxon face, so &r as I could judge
of it, as he lay sobbing on his pillow, had
something feminine ā ^almost child-like ā
in the innocence and gentleness of its ex-
pression, and my first thought was one
which has constantly recurred on closer
acquaintance, ^How utterly unfit for a
soldier I " He wanted the quick, nervous
energy of the New Englander, who, even
when badly wounded, rarely fiuls to betray
his origin ; he had none of the rough, off-
hand dash of our Western brothers, and
could never have had it even in health ;
nor yet the stolidity of our Pennsylvania
Germans. No! It was dear that I
most wait until he chose to enlighten me
as to his home. After a few minutes
study, I was convinced that his tears were
not from the pain of his wound; there
was no contraction of the brow, no tension
of the muscles, no quivering of the frame ;
he seemed simply very weary, very Ian
guid, like a tired child, and I resolved tn
act accordingly.
" I have been so busy with our defend-
ers, this aflemoon," said I, " that I have
had no time to come and thank you."
He started, raised his tear-stained face,
and said, with a wondering air, ^ To thank
me ? For what ? "
"For what?" said I ; "haven't you
been keeping the rebels away from us ?
Don't you know that if it hadn't been for
you and many like you, we might at this
moment have been fiying from our homes,
and Greneral Lee and his men occupying
our city ? You don't seem to know how
grateful we are to you ā we feel as though
we could never do ^enough for our brave
Gtettysburg men to return what they have
done for us."
This seemed quite a novel idea, and the
tears were stopped to muse upon it.
" We tried to do our duty, ma'am, I
know that."
" I know it too, and I think I could make
a pretty good guess what corps you belong
to. Suppose I try. Wasn't it the Second
corps ? You look to me like one of Gen-
eral Hancock's men ; you know they were
praised in the papers for their bravery.
Am I right?"
The poor tired face brightened instant-
ly. The random shot had hit the mark.
" Yes, Second Corps, do you know by
my cap ? "
" Your cap ? You don't wear your cap
in bed, do you ? I haven't seen your cap ;
I guessed by that wound ā it must have
been made where there was pretty hard
fighting, and I knew the Second Corps
had done their share of thaL"
But this was dangerous ground^ as I
felt the moment the allusion to his wound
was made ; the sympathy was too direct.
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and his eyes filled at once. Seeing my mis-
take, I plunged off rapidly on another
tack.
" Did you notice my assistant orderly
who came in with me just now ? He had
been over to see you before, for he came
and told me you wanted me."
<*I wanted you! No, ma'am, that's a
mistake ; no one's been near me since they
bathed me, and gave me clean clothes ā I
know there hasn't for I watched them
running all about ; but none came to me,
and I want so much to have my arm
dressed." And the ready tea.s once more
began to flow.
** There is no mistake. I told you that
my assistant orderly came to me in the
ladies' room, and told me that you needed
me. Think again ā who has been here
since you were brought in ? "
" Not a single fouI, ma'am ā indeed, not
a thing, but a dog, standing looking in my
face, and wagging his tail, as if he was
pitying me."
" But a dog ! Exactly ; he's my assist-
ant orderly ; he came over to me, pulled
my dress, and wouldn't rest till I came to
see you. I am surprised you speak so
slightingly of poor Dick."
Here was at once a safe and fertile
theme. I entered at large upon Dick's
merits; his fondness for the men ā his
greater fondness, occasionally, for their
dinners ā his having made way with three
lunches just prepared for the men who
were starting ā (the result probably of
having heard the old story that the sur-
geons eat what is intended for the men,)
our finding him one day on our table with
his head in the pitcher of lemonade, and
how I tried to explain to him that such
was not the way of proving his regards
for his friends, the soldiers, but I feared
without much effect ā in short, I made a
long story out of nothing, till the ward-
master arrived with his supper, saying that
the doctor^s orders were that the new cases
should all take something to eat before he
examined their wounds. My friend had
85
quite forgotten his own troubles in listen-
ing to Dick's varied talents, and allowed
me to give him his supper very quietly, as
I found he was recdiy too much exhausted
even to raise his uninjured arm to his
mouth. I had the pleasure of seeing him
smile for good-bye.
lOatook the Qenna.
A young officer upon the staff of a
Western General, who was temporarily
sojourning at head-quarters in the Zolli-
coflfer House, on High Street, Nashville,
one day Stopped before the door of a
neighboring house to admire and caress a
beautiful little girl. She was fair, bright,
and active, her hair was in ringlets, and
SDstook Um Genu.
she was neatly dressed. Imagine the
emotions of the kind-hearted officer when
a young lady remarked to him, with a per-
ceptible sneer, ** You seem to be very fond
of kissing niggers." " Grood gracious I "
was the startled reply, " you don't call that
child a nigger, do you?" "Yes, I do;
she is nothing else." The young officer
took another glance at the child, who
seemed even more fair than the young
lady. His reflections upon the "pecul-
iarities of custom" may be easily imagined.
<< Lee's Ifiaerablee.''
While the Federal forces were passing
their winter near Brandy Station, some of
the officers endeavored to relieve the ennui
of camp life by firequent visits to the fair
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secesh maidens of the surrounding coun-
try. One of the staff became quite enam-
ored with a young lady in Culpepper,
more noted for her secession ideas than for
her beauty. On one of his visits she re-
quested the loan of some books, and the
next day he sent over a parcel containing,
among other volumes, Victor Hugo's ^ Les
Miserables.** To his surprise the orderly
returned with the books, and a message
from the &ir one that she *' didn't want
any of his nasty Yankee trash." Not ex-
Genenl R. K. Lat.
actly understanding it, he rode over in the
evening to enquire what was wrong. The
young lady's eyes flashed as she demand-
ed to know how he dared to insult her by
sending her a book about ^ Lee's Misera-
bles." She knew that General Lee's men
weren't as well dressed as the Yankees,
but they weren't miserable one bit, and it
was all a Yankee falsehood to say that
they were.
ā¦
Iiast Tbooflrhta of the Dyln^ Bosr-Soldler.
In one of the large hospitals for the sick
of the Union army, surrounded by the
wounded and dying, lay a mere boy. One
glance at the fever-flush on his fair cheek,
the unnatural brilliancy of the beautiful
l)lue eye, together with the painfully rest-
less movement that tossed the bright curls
Brom his Jieated forehead, told with mourn-
ful certainty the tale that his hours were
numbered.
Yet only a fellow-soldier sat beside him.
No fond mother^s or sister's hand bathed
that fevered brow: and tender tones
whispering words of love and comfort
were wanting by the bedside of the dying
lad. The physician appix)ached him, and,
used as he was to such scenes, said, sadly,
" What a pity I yesterday such a fiiir
prospect of recovery, and to-day no chance.
Poor boy!" he continued, in an under
tone, "I wonder where his mother is I but
she could never get here in time. Ah,
well I it's fretting so much has done it."
Here the poor lad ijiterrupted, saying,
with feverish eagerness, and that pretty
mingling of Scotch and English always so
interesting,
" Its na* the fretting ; its the vow. Sin
I canna see her in the body I maun in the
spirit, and before night ā oh, me ! "
" Delirious," said the doctor, " I feared
it;" and, with an injunction to the watch-
ing soldier to let him talk on as much as
he pleased, passed on ā he had really no
time to spend by the dying boy. Thus
encouraged to talk ā for the young soldier
had his senses perfectly ā he turned to his
comrade, saying:
** Will you hear me tell it, James ? It
wad mak the time seem shorter to speak
out what is in my head. Weel, then, I'll
begin at the time when father, mithen
Jessie, an I all lived in that sweet wee
home awa among the Scotch mountains.
We had na much, to be sure, but enough
to keep onr^els, and some'at to spare for
our poorer neighbors. Jessie was a very
bonnie lass, older than mysel by some
years, and it was na long till she was
promised to the minister of the place. A
nice young man was he, and all the coun-
try round was glad when it was known.
It cam Jessie's birthday just three months
before the wedding-day. She was very
sad, an kep sa3ring how happy she had
been at home, an how na ither spot could
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ever be to her what it had been ; an then,
in the middle of the dancing an fiin, she
up an Arew her arms round my Blither's
neck, an vowed that always, on that eve-
ning, so lang as my mither was alive, she
would come ā whether ^ in the body or in
the spirit,* she would never fail. 'Twas
a wild word for her to speak, an' many o*
the neighbors shook their heads as they
heard, an the ta}k went round the town
that Jessie Graeme had bound hersel by
sich a strange vow."
Here the boy paused from extreme ex-
haustion, and, as he rested for a few mo-
ments, seemed to be looking at something
very far off; then, rousing himself, said ā
'* I maun be short ; it is near the time.
Jessie was married, an our hearts were
just as glad as children ; till one day word
cam that Jessie an her husband were
drowned. In crossing a little loch to visit
some sick folk the boat must 'a overturn-
ed, for it was found floating ; but we never
saw them again. Oh ! 'twas a bitter time.
My mither fretted much ; for, though she
kenned it true, she could na think of our
bonnie lassie Ipng dead an* cold in her
husband's arm^^, on the stanes at the bat-
tom o' the loch. My father fretted too.
He wad na think that she was dead, but
kep saying she wad eooa be back to glad-
den our hearts once mair ; but she never
cam; an we three, wi' sickening hearts*
waited for her birthday ; we kenned right
weel that, dead or alive, her promise wad
be kep. The night cam, an we sat wi*
open door an curtain drawn from the win-
dow (for when they come i* the spirit it's
only through the window they can look).
We three by the bright fire sat waiting for
the first sound o' her footstep. I heard it
first, as, wi' the water dripping from her
clothes, she cam swiftly up the walk, an,
putting aside the rose-bush, looked in ā
only for one moment ; then she was gone ;
but by that we kenned she was dead. It
seemed to comfort my mither; so that,
when I left soon after to come here, I
made the same vow, * that so bng as my
mither lived, whether in the body or in
the spirit, I wad, on the same night, stand
by Jessie's side ' ; and I maun," he added,
his eyes brightening, and a cold damp
gathering on his brow. ^Does no one
see? Don't you hear the water dripping
frae her dress ? My mither, wi' her long
gray hair ! See, she is putting the roses
awa. How cold an clammy her hand is !
It is dark!"
With these words, he fell back lifeless
Bodies laid out
on the bed. In awe-struck silence his
eyes were closed, and the cheeks of the
bravest paled at the thought that the spirit